Rumor: Miyamoto Banned From Discussing Hobbies

I hear a lot of far-fetched gaming rumors every day and most of them are too flimsy or stupid to merit printing. Occasionally, however, a rumor comes along that's so outlandish that it simply must be retold. This is one of them.

According to British newspaper The Times, venerable Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto has reportedly been told not to discuss his hobbies publicly anymore. Why? Because Nintendo doesn't want him to reveal what the next Wii product could be. Apparently his inspiration comes from his hobbies. "He became interested in taking more exercise, and Wii Fit was created. He took up music lessons, and Wii Music was the result," says the Times. Presumably, Super Mario Bros. is born from his love of taking LSD, becoming convinced he's a fish and trying to flush himself down a toilet.

Are Miyamoto's hobbies really spoilers? If he says he's into surfing now, who cares? A bunch of journos will write up "omg nintendo's making a wii surf game" articles and then look like idiots or prophets in six months. It's not like any of the ideas for these first party Wii games are so utterly creative that they mustn't see the light of day until all the stars are aligned. "Wow, an exercise game, what mad man dreamed this up?" These games aren't about original concepts, they're about excellent hardware execution. If someone found out a Wii Surf game was being planned, who's going to steal the idea? The other company with a console with a balance board peripheral?

I just feel bad for Miyamoto if this is true. I mean, what the hell. Imagine answering "no comment" when an interviewer asks, "So, what do you do for fun these days?" It's more likely there's no formal ban in place, but even so, this rumor is establishing a connection in people's minds between Miyamoto's hobbies and the upcoming Wii products and it could lead to further scrutiny of his personal life. Will gaming mags put photos of him playing frisbee on their covers with the headline, "Nintendo's Hot New Game?"